Samsung is rolling out a software update to owners of its first-generation smartwatch, giving them the same operating system and most of the new features they’d get if they bought a Samsung Gear 2 watch.

That means the company is replacing the Android-based Galaxy Gear operating system with a new Tizen-based OS through a software update.

samsung galaxy gear with tizen

The new software actually looks a lot like the old version, but you should get better battery life, the ability to store music on your watch and use it as a standalone media player without your phone, support for customized screen tapping shortcuts, and more.

But under the hood this is a major update — and it will erase your data. You’ll want to back up all of your data before starting and you’ll need to go through the setup and pairing-with-your-phone process all over again.

The good news is that you’ll need to install the update manually — Samsung won’t force it on users that don’t want to update through an over-the-air update. So if you’re using third party Android apps on your hacked Galaxy Gear, you should be safe.

Don’t want to wait for Samsung to prompt you to update? You can download the new Tizen ROM yourself from links at the xda-developers forum.

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4 replies on “Samsung Galaxy Gear Software update replaces Android with Tizen”

  1. Honestly, if Samsung makes touchwiz just like Tizen so people don’t notice the switch (this is in response to alandr), a lot of people are going to be pissed if they buy a phone just thinking it’s another phone just like their last one but they suddenly don’t have access to their paid Android apps. Personally I’ll be miffed because it would be like splitting the Android user base and reducing it to less than half. Which is bad for developers and end users alike.

  2. I think the board has been set up and play has begun!
    (This grips me more than would a muddy old river or reclining Buddah.
    -But thank God I’m only watching the game….)

  3. Samsung=New Apple, Kies= ITunes, Tizen=IOS, more control now – not cool.Samsung apps useless.Smart TV software useless,hardware still good.On new Galaxy S5 the UI looks more like Tizen opposed to Android.Samsung made that way so people start getting more use to Tizen.

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